WK League News

Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels are the oldest team in the WK League by far, having been established in 1993 as the first women’s works football team in South Korea. They’re also the league’s most successful team, having won the title eleven times in a row before a poor season saw them finish outside of the play-off spots for the first time ever in 2024.

Incheon head into the 2025 season with a new manager, Hur Jeong-jae. Hur has worked in women’s football for almost ten years, managing South Korea’s national youth teams. Notably, he was in charge of the U-20 squad that came third in the 2019 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship, thus qualifying for the 2020 U-20 World Cup. Incheon fans will be hoping that Hur and his assembled team of coaches can lead the Red Angels to a better finish this year, and prove that their glory days are not behind them.

Former manager Kim Eun-sook was not the only club legend to leave Incheon at the end of last season, with several Red Angels spreading their wings and flying overseas to pursue new career opportunities. National team captain Kim Hye-ri has joined Wuhan Jiangda in the Chinese Women’s Super League, where she’ll be coming up against former teammate Ines Nrehy, now playing for Henan Jianye. Red Angels fans in Canada are in luck as they’ll be able to see three former players in action in the Northern Super League — Hong Hye-ji is at AFC Toronto while Choo Hyo-joo and Lee Min-a have both joined Ottawa Rapid. After three years in Incheon, Yoko Tanaka has returned to her hometown of Yamaguchi. Tereza Engesha also left the club this winter.

The number of Red Angels pursuing overseas opportunities speaks to the caliber and reputation of this club. Still, as these players take the next steps in their respective careers, there is no doubt that between them, they leave a big hole in Incheon’s squad. With Son Hwa-yeon also having left the club for Sweden’s AIK Fotboll last summer, the Red Angels have lost some real heavyweights of Korean women’s football since the beginning of the 2024 season. Kim Hye-ri, in particular, has been a constant at the club for eleven years, becoming a key player not only on the pitch but also in the dressing room.

On the plus side, incoming manager Hur has already had the chance to sign players that suit his plans for Incheon this season. It’s not all change by any means — plenty of Incheon’s 2024 squad are either still under contract or have renewed ties with the club — but starting with the 2025 WK League draft, Hur has brought a number of new names into the fold. Incheon had the good fortune of being first placed in the draft, allowing them first pick of the assembled rookie players. They signed two promising young midfielders, Kim Myungjin and Bae Yebin, of Korea University and Uiduk University respectively. Both have been impressive in domestic tournaments and played for South Korea at U-20 level. Bae was also the youngest member of the senior squad for the 2023 World Cup.

Defender Jung Yoojin has joined Incheon from Seoul City. Jung is no stranger to Incheon, having played for the Red Angels from 2021-2022. She has big boots to fill following some of the aforementioned departures, but she’s a strong and capable player who returns to Incheon with experience of playing at two other league clubs, as well as training with the national squad. The Red Angels have also signed former Sejong striker Kim So-eun, who is a slight but very fast player known for her technical skills and intelligent play.

Incheon Hyundai announced two more additions to their squad just days before the start of the season, welcoming forwards Yuka Toriumi and Haruhi Suzuki, both of Japan. Toriumi, who has previously played in Japan’s top flight WE League, joins the club from Nishi Sato Arawore Ladies in Japan’s third division, where she was the club’s first captain following its foundation last summer. Although originally a striker, she has been playing as a midfielder at Arawore, so we may see some versatility in her role at Incheon.

Haruhi arrives at Incheon from WE League side Tokyo Verdy Beleza. Despite having spent 2021 away from football following an ACL injury, she soon found her form again and was selected as the MVP of the 2023 Nadeshiko League, having scored 12 goals in 22 matches for Orca Kamogawa FC. She continued to prove her goalscoring ability at Beleza before tough competition pushed her out of the starting line-up and she began to spend increasing amounts of time on the bench.

Other key players to look out for include new captain Jang Chang, a smart midfielder now entering her fourth year at Incheon, and defender Lee Deokju, a one-team woman since being drafted to the Red Angels in 2021, who recently made her international debut at the Pink Ladies Cup. Incheon also has strength in its goalkeepers. At 40 years of age, Kim Jungmi is the oldest player in the WK League. She has been playing for South Korea and the Red Angels since before her new teammate Bae Yebin was born, clocking up over 300 WK League appearances and 150 international caps. With declining form in the past couple of years, she is reaching the end of her illustrious career, but Kim Minjeong has benefited from training alongside this legend since 2018, and has made some important saves for Incheon herself, particularly when Kim Jungmi was injured in 2019. The Red Angels’ third goalkeeper is youngster Sung Seoulseorabeol, who was drafted to the club in 2023.

Following their disappointing season last year, it seemed as if the hits just kept coming for Incheon Hyundai as they bid farewell to some of the most valuable members of their team this winter. While they have retained a reliable core, the movement of players throughout the window makes for a slightly unpredictable start to the season. New management, players leaving during pre-season training for pastures new, and the addition of two new strikers just days before their first match, mean that the squad are still getting used to each other. Of course, it’s normal to have a certain amount of shuffling around at the start of the season as managers incorporate new signings and settle on their starting line-up, but Incheon will have to get organised fast — not only is the league season starting, they also have an AFC Women’s Champions League quarter final match coming up.

Incheon’s aims for the 2025 WK League are clear: They want to be in the play-off, at the very least. If Hur can integrate his new signings into the team quickly and well, they have a very good chance of achieving their goals. Their unpredictability could prove to be an advantage if other teams aren’t sure what to expect of them, but if the squad can’t settle down and get used to each other quickly, they will soon be found out by rivals such as Hwacheon, a side who boast continuity both on and off the pitch as they make another bid for the title they so narrowly missed out on last year.

Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels 2025 squad

Changes from 2024